Riesling, Roxheimer, Höllenpfad, Trocken, 2016

The red slate soils of Hollenpfad imbue the nose here with spicy notes of anise, carraway, licorice and lemon, it’s an amazingly clear delivery, the flavours together representing an almost piquant minerality. On the palate, just 4 grams of residual sugar, beautiful balance, with plucky mineral notes, fine iron inflected fruit flavours and great charm but also tension. Helmut and Cornelius's attempts to reinvigorate this historic site are clearly paying dividends.

The Dönnhoff family bought a modest estate in the Nahe in the 1750s. In 1971 current owner, Helmut Dönnhoff produced his first vintage and has not looked back since. A regular on the shortlist of ‘German Winemaker of the Year’ and actual winner in 1999, Helmut’s work is helping the Nahe to take a share of the plaudits showered on the more internationally renowned German wine regions of the Mosel and the Rheingau. His cool, calm demeanour is a stark contrast to the demonic fervour with which he tends his vineyards. Only the best hand-picked fruit will do, in order to produce wines that are honest refl ections of the Riesling grape and the terroir its planted in whether it be the volcanic soils of the Kupfergrube (copper mine), the deep, cool Brücke, the slate/sandstone Hermanshöhle or the slate of the Leistenberg. Fermentation is in the traditional large old wooden casks and there is a light filtration before bottling. Some of Germany’s most intense, bewitching and mouthwatering wines, that mixes Rheingau body with Mosel minerality.

The Nahe comprises vineyards that occupy each bank of the river Nahe, to the south of Mosel-Saar-Ruwer. The wines are often characterised by spice, red apple notes and intense minerality, and in the hands of producers like Hermann Donnhoff can be some of Germany's greatest wines.

One of the world’s noblest grape varieties, Riesling produces scented, refreshing, mineral wines from dry to lusciously sweet. Its bad reputation, tarnished by the cloying and completely unrelated Liebfraumilch, is one of the wine world’s great injustices. Its heartland is the steep Mosel and Rheingau valleys of Germany, where it produces floral spritzy off-dry to medium wines packed with lime and apple fruit or, when affected by botrytis, honeyed apricot characteristics. In Alsace, Austria’s Wachau and Germany’s Franken there are some exhilarating, complex dry versions that work very well with Oriental fusion foods, as well as some stunning sweet versions. Some superb lively fruit-forward styles are cropping up in New Zealand, Constantia in South Africa and the cooler parts of Australia and California.

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Tax Status Explained

IB stands for In Bond. Wines that are stored In Bond have not had UK Duty and VAT paid on them.

Most of our wines are available for purchase under bond, as fine wines often need to be laid down in order to allow them to mature. Many clients choose therefore to store them in our bonded warehouse and pay the tax as and when they wish to get the wines delivered. Please note that Wines purchased In Bond can be exported to non-EU countries without the need for Duty and VAT to be paid.

DP stands for duty paid. If you wish to get wines delivered for drinking, the duty and VAT will need to be paid as it leaves its bonded state in the warehouse. The wine is then said to be duty paid.

All taxes must be paid in order for us to be authorised to ship or deliver wine (unless the wine is bonded and being moved to another bonded warehouse or being shipped directly outside of the EU.)

EP stands for En Primeur. These wines are currently held with the Estate and Domaine’s we work with and will be shipped in due course.